Fresh Green Beans
I love cooking fresh green beans! And this tutorial will show you how to cook those green beans so they taste divine! 4 ingredients is all that is needed to make this fresh bean recipe. The perfect complement to any dinner you whip up.
If you are on the hunt for a fresh green bean recipe, you might enjoy this one. No complicated steps, no fuss. Just simple ingredients that offer big flavor.
Ingredients:
- Fresh beans
- butter
- salt
- pepper
How to Make
Break the ends off of each bean and then break them into bite sized pieces.
Discard the ends or feed ’em to your chickens.
Don’t have chickens? Go get at least three or four hens before proceeding to the next step.
Just kidding.
Place all of these beans in a pot of water along with a stick of butter. Place this over medium high heat and cook until the water cooks down almost completely, stirring from time to time. This is also where you would add some minced garlic if you like.
I sometimes add a heaping teaspoon, but I like garlic so you do you! There will be a little liquid left in the pot but not much at all. This will take anywhere from 10-15 minutes or more depending on how hot your pot gets.
Don’t be tempted to call the beans done before the water is cooked down.
They will be tender before that but not nearly as flavorful as they will be once they are tender all the way through and cooked down to a nice thin buttery coated sauce.
Recipe FAQs
I like to add garlic and some red pepper flakes too, depending on my mood. If I have some bacon grease handy I like to add a tablespoon or so of that as well, totally optional.
You can use frozen green beans in place of fresh if you really can’t get fresh, just promise me you’ll try it with fresh sometime, ok?
Let’s not talk about using canned green beans in this recipe, we just don’t even want to let that thought enter into our minds. 🙂 If you want to make canned green beans taste good, check out this recipe (click here).
If you are not sure what to look for when picking green beans let me help. Here you will look for bright colored beans, that don’t show a lot of brown spots. You also want the beans to be firm to touch. You should hear a snap when you bend the bean and it breaks. If it just bends it is too far gone.
You can cut off the ends of your beans. You just want to cut off the stems so you don’t get a woody texture when you eat them. If you prefer your beans not as long slice them in half. This will also help speed up the cooking time for smaller beans.
These are good with just about anything. We have been eating them as our low carb side when the kids are having rice or mashed potatoes so I like to keep a big container of them already cooked in the fridge for us.
Get the recipe for To Die For Meatloaf by clicking here.
Ingredients
- Fresh Green Beans
- 1 stick of butter
- salt and pepper
- minced garlic, red pepper flakes optional
Instructions
- Break ends of green beans off and discard. Break each bean into bite sized pieces.
- Place green beans and butter in a large pot. Cover with water.
- Bring to a boil over medium high heat (add minced garlic now if you like and a pinch of salt) and continue cooking, stirring often, until water is almost completely cooked out and beans are very tender.
- Salt and pepper to taste. And if you like red pepper flakes add them here and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Here are some other recipes for green beans that you may enjoy:
- Last Minute Green Beans & and Pretending to Let Go
- Sweet And Sour Green Beans
- Green Bean Casserole Rich, Creamy With The Perfect Crunch
- Creamed Beans and Taters
- French Onion green beans
I’m looking forward to making these this afternoon. Do I put a lid on the pot while they cook? Thank you.
Just made these. The best yet
excited to try cooking green beans this way! can you tell me how many beans you use? 1 pound? 1/2? thank you!
I don’t ever weigh them but use just enough to fill a large pot about half way.
If I want them for Thanksgiving, how far in advance can I cook them? Can I freeze them? Do I have to freeze them? TIA
You don’t have to freeze them and you can make them today and just put them in your fridge to heat up right before your meal. 🙂
I have to tell you that I absolutely love this, so easy & taste great! I have been trying to find a very simple way to cook soft tasty green beans and I finally found it. Thank you so much!!!
Thank YOU Ann, I appreciate you giving them a try and am so glad to hear you liked them!!
I just ate a big bowl of green beans with bacon! Yummy! We have a local diner that cooks great simple food! I’ve tried different routes of cooking green beans and haven’t had much luck so I’m off to try yours! And talking of simple recipes? My motto is the name the recipe is the whole ingredient list I don’t try it! Any tips for cooking fresh black eyed peas? Mine turn out like BB’s? Lol
I love green beans. Turkey Craw Beans, Pink Tip Beans and Greasy Cornfield Beans are my favs for fresh eating. For home canning I like Flat Italian Beans, Kentucky Wonder Beans and Blue Lake Beans. For making Leather Britches I like the Pink Tip Beans. Your simple recipe is perfect for cooking all of them. I love your recipes linked for store bought canned beans. The only way I don’t really like green beans is green bean casserole. Heck, I’ll even open a can of store bought green beans and pour off the liquid and eat them out of the can with a fork. Oh and I love your Three Bean Salad recipe.
WHERE DID YOU GET GREASY BEANS? I HAVE LOOKED FOR THEM FOR 45 YRS. WE HAD THEM GROWING UP WHEN WE LIVED IN KY. HAVNT SEEN THEM SINCE